A Habit of Amazing People – Remembering They Are Always on Stage
Shep Hyken’s book, Be Amazing or Go Home, talks about “Amazing people”, why they’re amazing, and the habits they have in common. Previously we discussed the first habit, amazing people show up ready to amaze.
Next, we discussed what it means to be amazing, providing a benchmark of sorts for the journey to “amazing”. According to Hyken, there are three “moments” in the “Moment of Truth” that make up “The Anatomy of Amazement”: A moment of Misery, a moment of Mediocrity, and a moment of Magic.
In this post, we discuss the importance of remembering that you’re always “on stage”.
“When it comes to Amazement, make a habit of aiming high. People are watching.”
That makes you think, doesn’t it?
The ArcherPoint workforce was until 2020 a little different than most because most of us worked from home. I think in most ways, this makes us more efficient workers overall. However, as I was reading about this habit, I realized I had developed some bad habits because I was not physically in front of people every day, and one of them relates directly to this habit: I am almost always multitasking. Part of “You’re Always on Stage” is that people are watching what you are doing and expect you to be at your best no matter what. How can you do this while multitasking? You can’t.
To provide the best possible responses to and solutions for a customer, you need to be on point for every phone call, meeting, or contact with the client. In our service-based industry, we should remember that our clients are always watching what we do, even if they cannot physically see us.
I can usually tell when I am on a call with someone, and they are doing something else while talking to me. If we can tell, you know your customers can, too. While we might not live in the same city as our customers, we are part of a small, close-knit group of NAV/BC Partners. Word spreads fast if we are not on point with our delivery and services, and other partners—as in any industry—would love the opportunity to provide services to our customers.
Always being on stage is a mindset. You need to be aware, prepared, and fully focused on your current audience. You need to deliver an impeccable performance and be consistent in your delivery every time single time you engage. You could provide a great customer experience by thinking about your calls, preparing an agenda, and staying on point, while allowing time to address customers’ concerns with genuine empathy. Little items like having the right tone, remembering names, and understanding the client’s business before you talk to them increase the possibility of having a better overall outcome to your conversation.
The last important takeaway from this is that if I am having a bad day, the client should never know. Let’s face it; we all have bad days, but we need to make sure that it does not show as we provide exceptional service. Fake it ‘til you make it. Take five minutes to breathe before your call. Smile while you are talking; it does change the sound of your voice. Make little adjustments until you can be fully present and provide the best service possible for a customer.
“Remember: You’re Always on Stage” is about making sure you are always on point for every customer encounter. While this is not always literally about the customer seeing you, I find that I am better focused if I think of myself as being physically in a room with the customer at the time of any interaction. Amazing customer service comes from a commitment to trying to be more amazing every time.
As you think of yourself being on stage with customers or co-workers, what little things can you do to be more amazing?
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